• Operation Midas by Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) focused on the state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom, which has an annual turnover of about $4 billion. On 11 November, five suspects were arrested, while two others (Tymur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman) have fled the country.

• 70 houses were searched, including that of Herman Halushchenko, Minister of Justice and member of the National Defense and Security Council. He was suspended from his duties by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

• Current secretary of the Defense and National Security Council Rustem Umerov (who accumulates undeclared properties in Florida [1]), has also reportedly been implicated. He is currently on a trip to Istanbul, Türkiye.

• The same goes for former deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chernihiv (aka "Che Guevara"), whose whereabouts do not seem to be known at the time [2] .

• The amount of money stolen is believed to exceed $100 million. Each contracting company with Energoatom was required to pay bribes of 10 to 15%. The money was allegedly laundered by the office of the former director of Energoatom (2006-2007), Andriy Derkach (who attempted, in 2019, to reveal Hunter Biden’s crimes in Ukraine to Rudy Giuliani). A complete set of black bookkeeping was discovered on site.

• The investigation, which began at the beginning of the year, accelerated in June when the US State Department sent eighty investigators to conduct an audit of Ukraine (see VIN 3630 [3]). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned at the time that "any irregularity will have consequences". He made sure then that Ruslan Kravchenko was appointed Prosecutor General of Ukraine. He is now the one in charge of "Operation Midas".

• The investigators have several hundred hours of phone tapping that leave them in no doubt about who is responsible. The FBI was dispatched to the scene.

• Tymur Mindich (aka "Karlson") was arrested in June, then released before he left for Israel. He returned to Ukraine in October, before fleeing again on November 11. He is the owner of the Kvartal 95 TV channel, which he founded with his friend Volodymyr Zelensky. At this stage of the investigation, the latter has not been implicated. In January 2021, despite the Covid lockdown instructions, the two partners and their many friends celebrated the president’s birthday in Mindich ’s house [4]. Investigators are currently investigating Tymur Mindich’s role in the supply of drones.

• In a speech on the evening of 10 November, Ukraine’s un-reelected president Volodymyr Zelensky said: "There is an urgent need to take effective measures against corruption. Sanctions are essential. Integrity within the company [Energoatom] is a priority. In the energy sector, every industry and every person involved in corruption schemes must face clear legal consequences and convictions. Government officials should collaborate with NABU and work together as necessary to achieve results." [5]

• Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, the remaining Ukrainian authorities will be under constant threat from revelations by the Trump administration in the US and will have to align themselves with its policy demands.

This is the editorial from our paywalled "Voltaire, international newsletter", n°151. For more information, do not hesitate to subscribe: 500€ per year.

Translation
Gregor Fröhlich

     

Stay In Touch

Follow us on social networks

 

Subscribe to weekly newsletter

[1] «ЦПК знайшов в родини Умєрових 8 елітних об’єктів нерухомості у США: три квартири у Флориді, одну – у Нью-Йорку та 4 вілли біля Маямі», Antac.

[2] «Former Deputy Prime Minister notified of suspicion of illicit enrichment», NABU, November 11, 2025.

[3] “Voltaire, International Newsletter N°137”, Voltaire Network, 13 June 2025.

[4] ««Зе-карантин»: день народження Зеленського, VIP-гості ресторанів та бездіяльність поліції (розслідування)», Radio Svoboda, 04 лютого 2021.

[5] «There Will Be a Cleansing and Reset of Energoatom’s Management – The President», President of Ukraine, November 12, 2025.